CHANDLER HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FACE UP TO RANDOM DRUG
TESTING

Random drug testing is now a reality in the Chandler Unified School
District.

Thirty-six students from Basha High School and 45 students from
Chandler High School have already been tested under the district's
new policy.

Students are required to be tested if they are involved in an Arizona
Interscholastic Association sport or nonathletic activity such as
marching band, speech and debate or theater.

The district received a three-year grant worth more than $700,000
from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Safe and Drug-Free
Schools last October. Testing began in January.

None of the Basha or Chandler high school students randomly chosen
have tested positive for alcohol or drugs.

Even if a student's test confirms drug use, only parents, possibly a
coach or adviser, assistant principal and program coordinator will
know, said Regina Wainwright, the district's random student drug
testing program director.

"It's purely on a very limited need-to-know basis," Wainwright
said.

The drug testing company the district contracts with does the random
sampling using names provided by the district. The names are sent to
Wainwright for review the day before testing happens.

On the day of testing, the drug testing company sets up two trailers
outside of the school -- one for the girls and one for the boys. The
students are taken out of class and ushered to the trailers where
they submit their sample.

Schools don't even know when their day for random drug testing will
be, and Wainwright would not say when the next test would take place
or how many more would take place over the rest of the school year.

But the secrecy ends once the trailers are on campus and the students
are plucked out of classes. "It's supposed to be confidential, but
the buzz was around campus . . . (with kids saying) 'Hey did you get
drawn?' " said Chandler High School athletic director Dave Shapiro.

Shapiro has received more than 400 permission slips from parents
allowing their teenagers to submit to testing.

For the most part, Shapiro said he thinks the program is a good one
because it gives teens an excuse when they're offered alcohol or drugs.

"It's a tough time (with) a lot of peer pressure and parties," he
said. "It gives a chance for kids to say 'No, I can't do that.' "